Nearing the End

[Fiori]

((Sophie Mason continued from Opposite Reflections))

Sophie slammed the door behind her, not stopping for a second as she sprinted down the corridor. She was almost 100% sure that Brendon wouldn't give up on chasing her down easily, which meant that she had to find somewhere safe to hide until she was certain that he had given up and decided to leave.

Eventually, she found this hiding place in the form of a small closet. It wasn't exactly the best location to hide in the world, but for now it would have to do. Thankfully, inside the closet there seemed to be a pile of cardboard boxes for her to hide behind, and after gently closing the door shut behind her she wasted no time in finding a spot behind the boxes, praying that Brendon wouldn't decide to search the admin building too thoroughly.

Now all I have to do is wait and see what happens next...

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After waiting for what felt like an entire hour, Sophie finally allowed herself to relax to a certain extent. Brendon had not discovered her, and whilst she was certain that he was still somewhere out there looking for her, for now she was safe. Safe in a compound full of several other people who she still had to kill in order to escape alive.

She turned a light on, opening her backpack and retrieving her remaining rations from within. Now that she was this close to the end, there didn't seem much point in preserving food for much longer. She WAS starving after all, and she'd need all her strength in order to win this game.

Now that she didn't have to worry about Brendon kicking the door down any time soon, she took the opportunity to think back on what she had done. Whilst killing Louis hadn't been as satisfying as she had hoped, nevertheless she couldn't help but feel glad that she had been the one to pull the trigger instead of letting someone else beating her to the punch. It felt oddly appropriate that she was the one to kill Louis, seeing as he had stolen her one chance to avenge her sister's death.

Not that it truly made that much of a difference in the end. Everyone connected to Stephanie's death was now dead. Ryan, Luke, Louis... Now she could finally focus purely on survival, seeing as there was nobody left to seek retribution against.

How many of them were left anyway? She knew for a fact that Brendon was still alive out there. And unless she was mistaken, Juliet and Marilyn were probably both still alive. Brett Torres as well. Apart from them though, she was fairly sure that there was nobody else to worry about.

Hmm, Brendon and Marilyn shouldn't be too much trouble, but Brett and Juliet on the other hand... I'm going to have to be extra careful about this. I've gotten too far to slip up now. I have to play things safe, avoid getting into any more unnecessary conflicts. Just four more kills, that's all it will take. Four more death until I'm out of this compound...

As she continued to eat, her she thought back on everything she had done to get this far. How she had manipulated Stephanie into killing others because she was too afraid to do so herself. How she had nearly abandoned Stephanie to her death because she was believed that it would save her the trouble of eventually killing her herself. The moment when she had killed someone for the first time, followed shortly by her own sister's death. How enraged she had been at the time, not only with Ryan, but with herself for not being able to prevent it. How she had then gone and hunted down the people responsible for her sister's death, killing anyone who stood between her and freedom.

Karl crashing down on the table after having been shot in the leg.

Luke's final admittance that he had not been the one who killed Stephanie.

Alex's tumbling over after having been shot in the chest.

Bryant walking off to die alone after having been shot in the stomach.

Melinda's confused expression shortly before she gunned her down in cold blood.

And the defeated look on Louis' face the moment he realised that he was about to die.

All these memories and more ran through her mind, reminding her of the cruel actions she had taken in the past. Actions which she knew deep down were morally wrong, but that she had committed anyway in order to survive. She HAD to kill them. It was the only way she could make it out of this compound alive, not matter how much she would have preferred to find some alternative solution. She HAD considered other options at first. But in the end, escape as it seemed was virtually impossible. And pacifism would only lead to her demise at the hands of someone with less moral fibre. No, in order to survive, she HAD to abandon her morals and play along.

Even if it meant forcing her sister to commit terrible actions as well.

She could remember so vividly Stephanie's reaction to killing someone for the first time. How distraught she had been at the time, how deeply it had effected her... Sophie knew from the beginning that Stephanie would not take the stress as easily as she would, but that didn't mean that it hadn't pained her deeply to watch her sister suffer like that. To put all the guilt on her shoulders rather then committing the necessary deeds herself.

Her thoughts then drifted to her sister's cruel death. How she had been so helpless to prevent it. Whilst a small part of her knew that Stephanie's death was inevitable, she had wished more times then she could count for it to have been quick and painless. If the two of them had managed to make it to the end together, then she would have made sure that Stephanie's death would be as peaceful as humanely possible.

But in the end, she had failed. Stephanie had not died peacefully, or even quickly for that matter. She had been shot in the throat and choked to death on her own blood. There was nothing remotely dignified or painless about it. She had died suffering, completely helpless to do anything about it. They never even had the chance to have one last proper goodbye.

A lone genuine tear found itself dropping onto the floor, followed by several others soon after. She had to go back. Had to go see Stephanie one last time. Tell her how sorry she was for using her, for treating her like some kind of tool to be discarded once it proved to be of no more use.

Only then would she be able to finally clear her mind of all guilt and focus entirely on the grim task that lay ahead.

With a destination in mind, Sophie stood up and inspected the gun she had liberated from Louis' body. It was a shame that she couldn't have taken the shotgun with her, but this peculiar weapon would be more than enough firepower to finish the job.

Well, what are you waiting for? Time to head out.

She took a deep breath, cocked her newly acquired gun, and headed through the door.

((Sophie Mason continued in Operation Terminated))